Armey Denies He Retaliated Against Belo

By: (AP) House Majority Leader Dick Armey has denied claims that he tried to retaliate against The Dallas Morning News for its coverage of his son's failed congressional bid.

The newspaper reported earlier that the Republican tried to have language inserted into a $10 billion military appropriations bill to force the newspaper's parent company, Belo, to divest itself of one of its three Dallas-area media properties -- The Dallas Morning News, WFAA-TV, and the Denton Record-Chronicle.

An Armey spokesman, Terry Holt, told the newspaper for its Tuesday editions that he was concerned about the concentration of media ownership.

Armey has had "a long-standing concern about independence in the media and about the responsibility that media companies have to provide a certain amount of responsible coverage in a media market where competition doesn't exist," Holt said.

Belo executives said Armey was retaliating for the newspaper's coverage of his son, Scott Armey, a former Denton County "county judge" who lost an April runoff for the seat of his father, who is retiring. A "county judge" in Texas is the county's chief executive.

Leading up to the election, articles published in the News and the Denton Record-Chronicle looked at Scott Armey's record as county judge, including his votes for contracts benefiting political associates.

Belo Chairman, President, and CEO Robert W. Decherd said there is plenty of competition in the Dallas-Fort Worth market.

"This is one of the most competitive media markets in the United States," Decherd said. "Belo owns more than one asset, as do almost every one of our competitors, which in turn are owned by companies many times larger than Belo in the aggregate -- Viacom, News Corp. ... General Electric."

The provision did not mention Belo by name. The proposed Armey amendment was cut from a final version of the bill because congressional rules prevented its inclusion.